Monday, September 27, 2004
Watched Martin Scorsese’s Who’s That Knocking At My Door last night - and it was the first time ever for one of the last Scorsese full lengths I’ve yet to see. In fact, I now think I’ve seen ‘em all except for Boxcar Bertha and New York, New York. Who’s That Knocking At My Door is his first feature. It evolved out of a film he started on as a student, and it definitely shows. It’s uneven, arty-farty, and not particularly engaging. But it was also interesting to finally see the beginnings of one of the great American filmmakers. The early influence of Godard and the French new-wave is obvious, as is Shadows by Cassavetes. But already here, the early Scorsese’s use of music and camera motion is true to even his most recent films. The seemingly semi-autobiographical plot (at least more-so than any of his other features), with a film-obsessed main character who rambles on at length about the Searchers, John Wayne and Lee Marvin, is a nice bonus. The lengthy scenes of him hanging around with his shiftless pals are less exciting. The scenes with “the girl,” carry the most interest, just hanging around getting to know each other, however their later plot difficulties don’t date well, and honestly, don’t quite work (and probably never did). Yet, the ending is a nice touch, and so are the street scenes of a dark, black and white, New York City.
